Born Out of Time
by something like human
Summary: part of the Lost Boys & Golden Girls arc which is a sequel to the Storms arc 25 WuFei and Mariemaia find more than an escape when Duo helps them.


Title: Born Out of Time  
Arc: Lost Boys and Golden Girls  
Rating: ages 13 and up  
Author: Something Like Human

Notes: This is I guess you could call it, a continuation of the Storm arc. I have always been fascinated with the relationship (not that you sickos) between Wufei and Mariemaia. There had to be some bond there for him to face off against his former comrades for her honor. Also, I think you may be able to read this fic and the ones that will come after it without necessarily reading Storms. It might help in seeing how Wufei thinks in this since he is slightly OOC to the series.

Timeline: This arc takes place after the first war and (obviously) shortly before the Eve's War. Round-abouts the fall of AC196. This one picks up directly after "Running Away, Running for Home" takes place.  
Warnings: AU (I really mess with the story from here on out), throws a brick … er…ah… hint: THIS IS SHOUNEN AI, drama, adult themes, minimal swearing.  
Disclaimers: I don't own GW nor do I own the song "Lost Boys and Golden Girls" by Meatloaf.

I had been staying with Duo a few days when he had gotten word back from the other pilots. It seems that there was a new peacekeeping organization that had formed in the months since the war. The Preventers, as they were called, were already aware of Dekim but that he was not participating in any illegal activity that they were aware of. But, with my information, they will look into the situation further. The only problem with that was the fact that Dekim's facility had dropped off the face of the Earthsphere. That last bit of information was not a surprise to me.

Thanks to the antibiotics that Duo had on supply, I was starting to feel better. It would be a while yet before I was back to full strength. Mariemaia, on the other hand, seemed to be even better than before we left the compound weeks ago. She doted on me and assisted Duo on anything he asked her to do. She really was a sweet little girl and our host was making sure that she knew that she was a little girl. He had introduced her to cartoons, taught her more silly nicknames for me than I had even heard before, and also showed her how to blow bubbles in her chocolate milk with a straw. Earlier in the day, I finally could not stand the begging and cajoling from both of them so I finally relented and engaged in creating my own milk-eruption.

It was shortly after that when the phone rang.

"Maxwell's House of Insanity, the warden speaking, how may I help you?" Duo answered the phone as I shook my head. He could never answer the phone like a normal human being. I could only hear his side of the conversation since he only had a handset phone not a vidphone.

"Hilde-baby! No, no, no…Nuthin's wrong! It's just I have some things to take care of still and… Seriously, I'm fine." There was a long pause where I could tell that he was listening to his friend, Hilde. I vaguely remembered a dark haired girl but I could recall quite a few stories Maxwell had shared about some of their misadventures salvaging stuff while he worked for her as a cover during the war.

"Fine, fine, you win!" He said in resignation. "An old friend dropped in a few days ago… no, we haven't been out partying. He needed some help – still does actually and well… who… Oh, it's WuFei. You remember him?" He paused and shook his head. "Yes, that's the one… no I don't need you to come over… We're big boys, we can handle ourselves… Oh in that case, come right over."

As he hung up the phone, Mariemaia bounded over to him. "Who were you talking to?"

"My friend, who happens to be my boss, Hilde. She's going to bring us some apple crisp she made earlier today that I would have got if I had been at work."

"Duo, we don't mean for you to miss work by staying here and taking care of us," I begin.

"Oh no you don't Fei-man, you shouldn't be on your leg too much yet and someone needs to be here to take care of you and Miss May. Besides, I had some vacation time that I didn't know what to do with anyways."

The next twenty minutes was spent by Duo and May cleaning up the apartment some since I had been staying on the couch and the little girl had been sleeping in Duo's bed. Duo had been camped out on the floor in a sleeping bag much to May's consternation. She did not want to put Duo out of his own bed but he convinced her that it was for the best so he could be out near me to watch me at night. I was slightly perturbed that he implied that I needed watching during the night like I was an invalid but it did get the girl to quit arguing about the sleeping arrangements.

When the doorbell rang, May was still in the bedroom putting the sleeping bag in the closet. Duo opened the door and let Hilde walk in carrying something that smelled delicious. Duo took the pan from her and she walked over to where I was seated on the couch. I slowly stood and bowed slightly to her as she greeted me like we were old friends. I could not remember ever talking with her but we could have at some point. It did not seem to matter to her either way though.

"Hey Duo," the young woman started in a tone of voice that sounded like she was about to tease him. "I didn't know it was THAT kinda visit seeing as he already can't stand properly and he's wearing your clothes – you even let him wear your favorite sweatshirt."

I was still trying to figure out what she meant when Duo burst back into the room looking slightly upset. "Hilde! Watch what you say, there are young ears in here!"

"He doesn't look like he's much younger than you… and if you've already..."

Duo cut her off before she could say anything else, "Not him, her!" He pointed to Mariemaia as she entered the living room. "And cut it out, I haven't done anything to Fei, he injured his leg."

Hilde's mouth went momentarily into an 'oh' but then quickly she smiled warmly at the little girl. "Why hello there, sweetie. Who might you be and what parent would trust their child with this monster?" She addressed her last question to Maxwell.

"My name is Mariemaia, ma'am," the little girl replied pleasantly as she had been instructed to by her tutors that Dekim hired for her. "And WuFei brought me here."

"Well, aren't you a proper little thing? Did someone clone Miss Peacecraft or something?"

The little girl giggled as Hilde laughed at her own joke. The conversation progressed from there into they whys and wherefores of the reason we were at Duo's. We also ate the apple crisp that Hilde had made and it was excellent. I was not aware that they shipped apples to L2 but from what I could pick up, they were the only fruit that was regularly shipped to the colony.

"Well, Duo, I wan'cha to take as much time off as you need to, kay? We've got no big orders for a few weeks and if something does come up, we can call you."

"Hilde, really, I can..." Maxwell was cut off by the young woman.

"Nope, I order you as your boss. You need to make sure these two are taken care of before you go and leave them to work. I assume that they'll be staying for a while."

"Ah, we haven't discussed anything yet," I tried to explain to them but Duo's voice went over top of mine.

"I was hoping that they would stay for a while, at least until it is safe maybe longer or whenever…"

"Can we really stay here with you?" Mariemaia asked quite gleefully. And when he nodded at her she practically jumped in his lap to hug him around the neck. It was much the same way that she always seemed to hug me. She always hugged me as if her life depended on how close she could get to me. I was not surprised at the speed at which she had bonded with Duo. It was hard not to like him. He was great with children which I attributed to him being in the gang as a youth and watching out for the younger ones.

I could hear Hilde giggle at the little girl right before the carrot-topped munchkin latched onto me. She squealed into my ear as she hugged me, "We finally have a home!"

I looked over her head to catch Duo's eyes. He was smiling at me so warmly that if I had not already had my arms occupied with hugging Mariemaia, I might have tried to hug him. It was the first time in three years that I had a place to call home. That moment to me, I consider it the end of the war. It did not matter if we had to eventually pick up the Gundams again; the war was over for me. There was some peace to finding a home that was more precious than any treaty that could be signed.

Hilde left shortly after that and we remained sitting on the couch in the living room. Mariemaia had squeezed her way in between Duo and I at some point. She sat there swinging her tiny feet off the edge of the weathered couch. She was humming a song to herself that slightly resembled a waltz. It was probably something she had heard while with Dekim. But she was smiling and looked like the child that she should be. I turned my gaze from her to the other occupant of the couch. Duo was looking thoughtfully at the child also. I had seen over the past few days that the little red-headed sprite had stolen his heart as she had mine.

Duo looked up from the little girl and met my gaze. "We really need to make some plans as to what we are going to do."

"Can I go to school?" Mariemaia asked abruptly. When both Duo and I looked at her, she explained, "I've never gotten to go before and I want to play with other kids."

"Tired of playing with me already?" Duo asked jokingly looking affronted.

"No! You're fun," she replied giggling. "But you and WuFei need to work since you're like my parents now."

I looked at Duo and he looked at me. It seems like we've adopted a child now or in actuality, a child has adopted us. I do not feel that I am old enough to be a parent. I mean, according to the government, Duo and I are still juveniles ourselves. Then again, on this colony especially and even on Earth, there are so many war orphans that many have been considered emancipated minors. We have the legal rights of adults even though we have a few years to reach our majority.

"Sure kiddo, we'll get you into a school as soon as we can," Duo explained to her while he ruffled her short hair. "And when Fei-fei is well enough, we can find him a job, too. He doesn't strike me as a housewife type."

I reached up and smacked the back of the jokester's head. "Maxwell…"

"Uh-oh!" Duo interrupted. "I must be in trouble if Wu's calling me by my last name…"

At that point he jumped from the couch and ran into the kitchen. I started to get up to chase him but my leg ached enough to make me gasp. Mariemaia grasp my hand as if she were trying to help stay standing. I was in no danger of falling but I had just momentarily forgotten about my leg still being injured. "I'm okay, Miss May, just stood up too fast."

She just smiled up at me for a moment. Then she wrapped her little arms around my waist and hugged me. I stroked the top of her head as she clung to me. I could barely hear her when she whispered, "Thank you for bringing me here."

"Your welcome," was all I could say in response. It was then that I noticed that Duo had returned. He bent down and picked the little girl up to hug her also. After a moment, Mariemaia turned slightly in his arms and reached out one of her arms to me. She slid her hand behind my neck and drew me in closer to her and Duo. I lifted my arms to half embrace her and to also embrace Duo. We were all smiling at each other like loons but it was a good thing.

We may have been standing in a small apartment in one of poorest Colonies in the Earthsphere but we were home. None of us had a clue how we were going to make everything work out. We were all just children by age and ancients by our experience. Things should have felt overwhelming and totally out of control, but they did not. For the first time in a long time, I felt safe and at home.


End file.
